Camped at Crater Lake the night before, left at 5:30am and got to the top of the Bell Cord Couloir by 9am (its a long climb, especially with no warm up). We did South Maroon Peak first (very easy from the saddle) and then did North Maroon (not as easy). Most of it seemed class 3+ with a few in your face class 5 moves. Awesome traverse though! Going down North Maroon was interesting. That was probably the hardest part of the day and the most worrisome part as well. There was a bunch of snow on the standard route so finding our way down was a little interesting at times.

Couloir due to the late season, was complicated and difficult to climb. Runnels seemed to be everywhere, some as deep as 4'-5'. Lots of deep horizontal fracturing in the upper apron and lower couloir were breaking away. Almost felt like the PNW.
Snow was slushy by 7:30. Long climb but worth it.

Left the TH very early and did this one solo. Climbed the Bell Chord and was nearly killed by rockfall triggered by frightened mountain goats while in the couloir. Climbing the Chord was straightforward but time consuming. Went up South Maroon first and then traversed over to North Maroon. The whole experience was both physically and mentally challenging, but also very rewarding.

Set my alarm, so I thought, so started up at 5:45am , hit the couloir with the sun already up and melting the snow. Was fine for the first half then got soft, but wasn't too bad. Reached the summit on an almost bluebird day. Downclimbed the couloir. Fun day!

Camped at Crater Lake and started the route at 0600. The snow was rotten in spots (2" of slush over hard ice), the runnels were deep, and my pace was far slower than I had planned for. Reached the summit at noon to be greeted by a thunderstorm so close the sleet was crackling and popping as it hit. Tried to make a hasty descent an d learned there is no such thing. Downclimbed the SE colliour, but the snow there was even worse and the descent took almost as long as the ascent.

Ben, Jim, Dan and I went back to the Bell Cord to finish what we started the week before. So much had changed in a week, higher water in the lakes and rivers, more exposed rock on the faces and on the snow, and less snow to climb and ski on. We traversed to the summit of Maroon Pk from the top of the Bell Cord on a very warm day, and skied from just below the couloir becuase of poor snow conditions inside the couloir.

This climb is great. Starting from the bottom of the snow gully, the route continues to be direct and straight forward. However, when arriving at the couloir, there is a branch that goes out left- it dead ends. Snow was soft but fun. Watch for loose rock!!!